In the 1970's, the United States (U.S.) government issued a requirement that light machine guns (LMG's) issued by various branches of the U.S. military shall have dual ammunition feed capability. Specifically, this dual ammunition feed capability requirement stated that such LMG's were to be capable of receiving magazine-fed ammunition and belt-fed ammunition. Belt-fed ammunition is typically contained in and supplied from a box that is attached to a LMG. The belt-fed ammunition, which is arranged in a belted configuration (e.g., clips connect each round of ammunition to the next round), is fed from the box to a receiver of the LMG. The advantage of belt-fed ammunition is that a supply of belt-fed ammunition is relatively large, thereby enabling sustained firing of the LMG without the need to frequently reload the LMG of ammunition. On the other hand, the benefit of being capable of receiving magazine-fed ammunition is that it readily enables continued operation of the LMG when the supply of belted ammunition is exhausted. The quantity of ammunition that can be supplied by a magazine is relatively small as compared to a supply of belt-fed ammunition. But, a magazine can be installed and, when empty, removed from a LMG in a matter of seconds. Removing and installing a belted ammunition container takes considerably longer to perform than does removing and installing a magazine.
The current U.S. military issue LMG is the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon). The M249 SAW, whose overall construction is at least partially disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,817, has a magazine well located on the left side of the receiver assembly. Because this magazine well location results in the magazine protruding from the left side of the LMG, the magazine well configuration of the M249 SAW is seen as a considerable drawback as it adversely impacts how the M249 SAW is carried, is held/positioned in storming operations and affects use by left and right handed users.
A more preferred orientation for a magazine well is directly below the magazine assembly. With this orientation, the magazine well and an installed magazine extend in the 6 o'clock direction when looking down the longitudinal axis of the receiver with the firearm in a horizontal firing position. For example, the M16 rifle, which is also a standard U.S. military issue firearm, uses this magazine well orientation.
In its original manufacturer configuration, the M-16 rifle is configured for magazine feed capability only, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,555. However, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,634,274 and 6,681,677, the M16 rifle may be reconfigured for dual ammunition feed capability (i.e., magazine-fed ammunition and belt-fed ammunition). Some belt-fed machine guns such as the Stoner 63 and the US M60 provide for the mounting of a belted-ammunition container to one side of the weapon. This side-mounted configuration for the belted-ammunition container undesirably results in the rifle being unbalanced.
A known alternative to side-mounting the belted-ammunition container in a dual ammunition feed capable firearm such as, for example, the M-16 rifle disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,634,274 and 6,681,677 is to implement a container attachment device that is received within the magazine well. This type of device acts as an interposer connected between the rifle and the belted-ammunition container. An example of such a container attachment device that is received in the magazine well is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,012. A drawback of this type of mounting arrangement for the belted-ammunition container is that the depth of the magazine well and length of the container attachment device result in the belted-ammunition container being positioned relatively low under the rifle. The vertical orientation of the belted-ammunition container with this type of mounting arrangement cause the firearm to set relatively high off of the ground when an operator is firing the rifle in a prone position. Every added inch of vertical height off the ground can place the operator (e.g., the operator's head) in harms way.
Therefore, a mounting arrangement for belted ammunition containers that overcomes drawbacks, limitations and/or shortcomings associated with conventional mounting arrangements for belted ammunition containers would be useful, advantageous and novel.